Intestinal oxidative damage and mucin regulated gene response to Plasmodium chabaudi malaria infection

The cellular constituents of the innate defense system in the intestine include epithelial cells, goblet cells, dendritic cells and macrophages. The front line of this system is the mucous layer containing goblet cells which secrete mucin [6,7]. The response of goblet cells was observed in several intestinal infections due to bacteria, viruses and parasites. Decreases number of goblets cells (hyperplasia) was observed in some parasitic infections like helminthes [8,9] but hypoplasia of these cells were observed in coccidial infection with Eimeria [10,11].